#yes i'm making my post-con shopping list already

[malicemismanager]

To this day I remain incapable of seeing a frog charm/pendant without immediately thinking about Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It by @silvysartfulness (which you should totally read, it is in my completely unbiased and professional opinion one of the best SXX fics out there) which is honestly one of the funniest associations to have burrowed its way into my brain, even if it makes it a tad distracting to make the shopping list for after the con XD

[encantosimpshey]

❥ 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆

DAYS PASSED AND the promised "next time" still hasn't happened. The kids kept bugging Camilo about Eliana whenever he spent time with them that he grew a bit jealous.

He deadpanned at the woman beside him as she continued to read her shopping list while walking. It amazed him how she could do that without walking into a pole.

"Ah-!"

Camilo spoke too soon.

Some random dude bumped harshly into Eliana as he rushed past, making her lose balance and trip on air.

The air in his lungs was knocked out as Eliana's body collided with his and he stumbled a bit before he caught her properly and steadied her. As Eliana looked up to thank him, Camilo's breath hitched.

Dios, her face-- it's too close!

He immediately shoved her off, dusting his ruana to distract himself from the weird, tingly feeling that blossomed in his chest.

"You should really watch where you're going, Eliana. Can't have you falling for me so quickly." He dramatically placed a hand on his chest and winked at the other.

Eliana raised a brow, "All right then. But at least I know you'll catch me if I do fall." She bit her cheek to stop herself from grinning like a fool as she watched Camilo try to keep his wits.

"Well if I won't be there to catch you, who else will~?" He flashed her a cocky grin before looking away to grimace at his weak comeback.

I could've said something more cool! Something like "well, we can't have your white dress dirty, can we?"

He resisted the urge to face-palm. That's even worse- Arghh!!! Today is not my day-

"milo-! The post-" Camilo didn't get the time to yelp as Eliana pulled him away from the post he was about to run into.

At her sudden pull, he staggered a bit. Eliana chuckled as she steadied the both of them.

"You catch me, I catch you."

Yep. Today was definitely not his day. 

✦ ✦ ✦

Camilo stretched his limbs before accepting the bags from Eliana.

The other smiled a bit before picking up her own load. "Thank you for accompanying me today, by the way."

"Don't sweat it... But if you really want to repay me, you can make extras for me later." He wriggled his brows as Eliana sighed.

"All right. But you have to help me this time-"

"No way!" Camilo cut her off.

Eliana crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "Why not?"

"W-well..." He scratched his nape as he tried to think of an answer that wasn't "oh I'm scared of embarrassing myself by making you clean up my mess again."

The other exhaled, already knowing why he didn't want to help. "Don't worry. You'll have fun learning how to make arepa con queso."

Camilo perked up at the sound of his favorite snack. "If you insist~" He closed his eyes and puffed his chest in pride.

Eliana didn't respond, making him peek open an eye to see what was up. He followed her gaze to a bunch of children gathered in front of a traveling troupe caravan. A tall man in a sharp tuxedo and cape stood in the middle of the small group, performing some magic tricks that left the kids in awe.

Both adults also stopped to watch as the entertainer pulled out a coin from behind one of the kid's ear. They watched as the kid gasped and touched their ear in wonder.

"Pah! There's nothing to be surprised about." Eliama suddenly grumped, breaking the mystical silence the magician created.

"Anyone could see how he did it. He's so obvious with his sleeves and gloves. If he were more convincing of the magic trick's mystery, I would probably think I had a rival." She harrumphed, raising a brow at the caped man who suddenly shivered.

Camilo looked at her in amusement. She took this magic business to very seriously and it was a funny change to see her normally composed self frustrated over such a small thing.

"Maybeee if you did your magic tricks for the children more often, maybe they will see how real magic works." He tilted his head to the side, smiling smugly as the other stared at him for a while.

"But the house-"

"Come on Eliana!" He tutted. "You don't always have to worry about the house or if we have something to eat-"

"Yes I do. Especially with you-" She pointed out.

Camilo blinked at her. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that and continue with my point... Wait- what's my point again?"

Eliana snorted, making him look at her. She looked pretty, smiling genuinely like that.

He shook his head to clear his mind as he tried to remember his point. "Oh yeah. You don't have to always stay at home, doing things for the family... Seriously, I bet if Abuela knew you before Casita broke, she would worship you for putting the family first. But right now, why don't you something different and fun for once? If not for you, then for the kids who want to see you."

It was Eliana's turn to blink. Camilo didn't know how impactful his speech was then, but this moment was a turning point in Eliana's life.

She stared at him some more before mumbling to herself as she suddenly forged ahead, "hmm... maybe I'll free this afternoon... If we hurry up with the arepas..."

Camilo overheard her mumbles, a stupid grin on his face as he hurried to catch up with her.  

translations :

• Dios ~ god • ruana ~ a poncho-style outer garment native to the Colombian Andes

click here to read chapter 14 ! click here to go back to table of contents !

[slade-neko]

Saw this video game tag thing pop up on my dash a few days ago. Wanted to do it.

1. First game you played obsessively? Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I believe I was 5yo. Still waiting on that FF7 Remake treatment.

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc. Well if I play a game and like it, then I'll create sims of it. Does that count?

3. Who did you play with as a kid? My brother from the day I was born.

4. Who do you play with now? My brother FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN.

5. Ever use cheat codes? I wasn't lying when I made this post. {link}

6. Ever buy strategy guides? Yes! Mainly to look at the artwork though. (Don't need no guide!)

7. Any games you have multiple copies of? Lots of games, most being Left 4 Dead with 6 copies (3 Xbox 360, 1 PC case, 2 PC digitally.) What can I say, its a GOOD GAME!

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection? Gold cartridge Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (maybe that's rare?)

9. Most regrettable purchase? I don't regret my purchases, but I have received games I have never played like Cubix (PS2) no clue where that game came from, but I have it somehow. Madagascar (Xbox 360) came with my Xbox 360, never opened it from its case. And Monsters Inc. Scream Arena (Gamecube) or something... it was a gift.

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours? No, because then I'd have to interact with people.

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games? I'm only friends with people BECAUSE of video games, so yes.

12. Ever get picked on for liking games? No, that'd be ridiculous.

13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has? Probably a lot, I'd say Call of Duty, but I technically played CoD 1, 2, and 4. The campaign mode was alright, but I don't really care for CoD games at ALL.

14. Favorite game music? Koji Kondo and Grant Kirkhope are two BIG ones.

15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick? Triforce is the most basic option, but I'd rather not get a tattoo.

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL? Super Smash Bros. Brawl with hacks, but that was over a decade ago.

17. Ever lose a friend over a game? No, that'd be ridiculous.

18. Would you date someone that hates gaming? No, that'd be RIDICULOUS.

19. Favorite handheld console? PSP. 3DS is great, but PSP Monster Hunter has ALL of my portable gaming memories. Like playing in school after End of Grade tests with my friend.

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand? Sims 4 I like to think I know everything about Left 4 Dead. Quite a bit about Monster Hunter, more so of a series though than a specific game.

21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now? I'd say Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. I loved it as a kid, but had a lot of complex pen & paper RPG mechanics that I never understood. I understand a lot more of it now, but its still complex as all heck. I just know you hit things, they die.

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories? That's the only thing I wear.

23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into? Not sure so I'll list a few. Sims 4, Smash Bros. Brawl, Monster Hunter (its a series though), or Left 4 Dead

24. First Pokemon game? Leaf Green

25. Were you ever an arcade game player? No, don't like paying to play.

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries? No.

27. Game that makes you rage? I don't get mad at games, but I had a custom modded Hard Eight mutation in Left 4 Dead that is absolute bullsh*t!

28. Ever play in a tournament? No, because then I'd have to interact with people.

29. What is your gaming set up? A giant wall of video game consoles spanning from NES to Switch, 4 TVs, but I sit at a desk with a PC.

30. How many consoles do you own? "I own every console that's ever existed." - I Don't Play Games When I Play Games (My STRENTH) original song by Smooth McGroove BUT no seriously I own 32 consoles including handhelds.

31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches? Yes. 3DS gave me headaches though I only really played with the 3D feature in Ocarina of Time 3D. I think my eyes broke because I couldn't get my 3D to work very well after.

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic? Sure I play games based on a lot of things. Literally any anime game. If I had to pick Dragon Ball Xenoverse is kinda like a dream Dragon Ball game. Oh, Attack on Titan 2 is pretty neat too!

33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games? Some SEGA plug-n-play thing once. Played it like once and now its lost to time (or my closet.)

34. Do either of your parents play video games? Yes. Mom and Dad played NES Super Mario Bros. My Dad went HARD at that game until he saved the Princess. Then he quit forever.

35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop? "Hi. Welcome to Gamestop!"I never want to hear that again, but it was my main store until I went full digital/ online orders.

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game? No, I don't tend to get upset or emotional, but Bill dying in Left 4 Dead made me pretty pissed.

37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination? Never played it. I don't really play "bad" games, but maybe Sims 4.

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like? The Sims 4

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make? Dragon's Dogma 2 WHICH I think is actually in development, so I'd have to say Fallout New Vegas 2. C'mon Bethesda you cowards, hand the keys back over to Obsidian so they can make another good Fallout game!

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls? Two part question, two answers. VR Headset to immerse in world, yes. Motion Controls, no.

41. A genre that you just can’t get into? MOBAs and MMOs. I don't like paying to keep playing.

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness? Nintendo 64 opened me up to what video games could be as a kid. Sad to say my parents' NES didn't really do that for me. And years later Fallout 3 was a big game changer for me too.

43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else? Every day of my LIFE.

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters? None. I'd rather emulate.

45. How are you at Mario Kart? Pretty dang good. 3-STARS MARIO KART WII, BABY!

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon? Yes, both of those. I preferred when Animal Crossing had more character to it. New Horizons looks so pretty, but feels so bland compared to classic AC.

47. Do you like competitive games? No. Not really. Usually amongst friends or if I can get competitive against AI Bots. I love my machine bot friends cause they don't cry like 10 year olds when they lose.

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character? Too long. I've seriously restarted games because I wasn't happy with my character's appearance.

49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character? Yes, I am always the magic man, my brother is always brute warrior, and my friend is the ranger.

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create? I don't really know. Honestly, I'd rather mod already good games to make them better than create something completely new.

51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep? No, that'd be ridiculous. But I've had a friend fall asleep playing games at my house 3 different times and currently dozes off during our Minecraft sessions. So, maybe that's not a completely ridiculous thing after all.

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid? Kirby 64 apparently. My brother tells me we had to count out pennies to buy it. I must've been too young with no recollection, but I believe it.

53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days? It's good if its not in the game's files from the beginning and is actually developed AFTER launch... and pre-order bonuses should be standard DLC a month or two later. Some games have content lost to time because of that pre-order bullsh*t.

54. Do you give in to Steam sales? Of course. If you want a game and its on sale then why not? I typically wait just for Steam sales to get games.

55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them? No? I typically make people and characters I like in Sims. I've made villains like Dio, but he's an anime villain and I don't really HATE him despite the horrible things he's done.

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests? No. Never played that game.

57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements? I try to for all the games I really like.

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick? The Sims 4, Skyrim, & Fallout: New Vegas. Mods make them live forever. Left 4 Dead and Monster Hunter are good choices too.

59. Do you play any cell phone games? Those aren't games.

60. Do you know the Konami Code? No? But I'll take a guess. Is it make an IP and forget it exists?

61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever? Keep forever... even the bad ones.

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game? PS4 Pro for Monster Hunter World. It was basically for early access since the PC version was being developed and releasing after PS4, but I don't like waiting.

63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? Sort of. Been to anime cons and walked into the gaming tournament rooms only to walk out less than 10 minutes later.

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming? No, but I'm going to be doing that soon, hopefully.

65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file? GameShark for N64, PS2, Gameboy, and Action Replay for Gamecube, DS, 3DS. And no not really, I would cheat responsibly... but there was this one time at school my friend and I borrowed another friend's Gameboy game, loaded it up with my Gameshark, tried playing, it crashed, loaded it back up, save file corrupted... we just stared at each other jaws dropped, "Here's your game back, dude. Make sure you don't play it til you get back home!"

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it? No, but I remember seeing them on billboards in the game DRIV3R on PS2.

67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share? Every game I play is filled with happy memories (mostly.)

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool? These tiger plushes. My brother got white and I got orange. They were the coolest. Got a butt load of tickets from some jackpot spinning light game thing as I was good at the timing with repeated jackpot hits.

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? I've played quite a few masterpiece games, but to pick one, I'd say Fallout: New Vegas

70. Very first game you ever beat? Super Mario 64. I was a mere child on a Sunday morning and ate celebratory pancakes made by my Dad.

Wow, that was long... I get the feeling this was supposed to be a "send me ask with numbers" thing, but answering all at once is more fun.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

did I post anything yesterday NO was it because I was busy prepping for a halloween party YES but do I have updates? ALSO YEAH.

having said that: c-list saturday sunday #3: in which Jessie does some career planning

Jobs (pros and cons)

Go back to retail

Pros: ... money?

Cons: Everything else, CUSTOMER SERVICE, I will ice the first bitch who asks to speak to my manager, big big gap in my resume that they probably won't like, got fired from my last job for shoplifting and might have a record or something

Crafting

Pros: Work from home, pick my own hours, fun

Cons: Working from home, picking my own hours, gonna stop being fun if I have to do it to live

Seedy burger place where all the waitresses dressy up as skanky versions of heroes and villains

Pros: They might hire me on the spot for the clout, dressing up is fun, could meet new girl friends and start a girl gang? or just a girlfriend who's into costumes and weird shit

Cons: Customer service again, the guys who eat there are definitely pervs and if someone tries to grab my ass I'm definitely going to break his hand. Also there’s like a 50/50 chance they’ll tell me I’m too fat to work there even if I’m dressed up as MYSELF and my self esteem really can’t handle that right now

One-Eyed Polly's

Pros: Maud loves me, might get free drinks, FRIES, bartending is sexy, working nights might be fun and my sleep schedule is already boned anyway

Cons: Probably a lot of cleaning (ew), working nights might actually start to suck pretty fast, pretty sure a bunch of people there want to kick my ass

Keep being a supervillain

Pros: Easy money, great outfits, SO FUN, sexy, makes me feel alive, literally the only thing I can think about doing for the rest of my life without wanting to ice myself

Cons: Mercury, all of NEXT, could get arrested, having to work without Jonas, but maybe I can find a new partner? Or a bunch of partners? I could start a GIRL GANG. This is actually a pros list now!!

If you ignored that she’d started the day with two people stopping by her apartment and threatening her, Jessie had actually had a pretty good birthday.

Okay, sure, she hadn’t celebrated much, but she’d done her laundry for the first time in weeks and blown most of her remaining money on a trip to the grocery store. Sure, she was basically flat out of cash now, but everything still looked a little better when the cabinets were filled with food. She’d learned that lesson young, during the year between when Jonas moved and when he decided to move Jessie in with him. He had made a point of stopping by most weekends with a brown paper bag stuffed full of groceries specifically for Jessie, intent on making sure she could at least stay fed while she listened to their parents bicker.

What else? She’d taken a shower and washed her hair, finally, and even swept out the small bathroom. God only knew how so much glitter had ended up there, but it was all sitting in the dumpster now. She’d put on real pants for the first time in a hot minute and done her makeup to go shopping, ensuring that she would be the hottest bitch in the cheese aisle. After that she went to see about fixing Mrs. Hoang’s dishwasher, enjoying some shrimp cakes when she was done. Then she ran down to the second floor to see the nice college kids whose car she’d jump started back in the winter, asking if she could make some posters on their printer. They said yes, and even kindly refrained from asking her why the fuck she was printing up posters that said HENCHMEN WANTED.

By then it was getting late, so she made a lasagna and ran most of it back downstairs to the college kids, because they looked too skinny for their own good and they were definitely living on ramen noodles and weed. Jessie kept one slice to pick at herself, her appetite mostly ruined by the prospect of what came next.

Why, what came next?

Well, that was a trip to One-Eyed Polly’s that Jessie suspected was hardly going to be a glorious return. She had been away for - what, surely not the whole two and a half years? No, she’d definitely gone back once or twice to brag after her career as Frostbite took off. It had still been a long time though, because Jonas had insisted that holding themselves to a higher standard of crime included swearing off the kind of socializing that took place in their old neighborhood. This was where their father had come to try to get henching gigs, for fuck’s sake.

It was also, incidentally, where their mother had come to smoke and socialize even when she was nine months pregnant, which was why Jessie was stuck feeling permanently sentimental about a certain stall in the women’s bathroom. She hadn’t been all the way born there but it was where her mother’s water had broken, and that had to count for something.

Anyway. Jessie hadn’t been here in, oh, going on a year at least, and she’d spent even longer ignoring old classmates who tried to reach out to ask for a job or a little cash or whatever else they wanted; she usually had them blocked before she’d even finished fully reading their messages. You know, the same classmates who never moved out of their awful neighborhood or stopped drinking at this crappy wannabe bar? Those ones. They’d all be here, probably. And she definitely wasn’t nervous, no sir.

She most definitely didn’t notice a hush fell over the room when she walked in, like she was a stranger rolling into an untrustworthy town in some old stupid western. And she paid it absolutely no mind when the sound resumed a moment later in the form of a dozen whispered conversations, none of them sounding very kind or anything close to it. And it totally didn’t seem ominous that in the long, drawn-out moment between the two, in that giant gulf of silence, the worn out wooden floorboards had creaked extra loudly beneath her boot.

Nope, she wasn’t paying attention to any of that. She was keeping her chin up, eyes forward, walking like she owned the place and everyone else was lucky to be here, the same code of conduct she used whenever she was suited up on villain work. She almost wished had come in the full ensemble, since it made her feel like she was wrapped up in a combination security blanket and bulletproof vest, but she’d have to settle for the freeze ray being strapped very visibly to her thigh, which wasn’t quite a threat but also wasn’t not a threat.

It wasn’t like Jessie was trying to listen in on what anyone was whispering about her, because she definitely wasn’t, but if she was hypothetically trying to eavesdrop these were some snatches of conversation she might have heard:

“Lot of fucking nerve.”

“She still owes me twenty dollars.”

“Bitch.”

“Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Anyone seen Sub-Zero lately?”

“Did I tell you that she blocked me?”

“Get a load of those boots!”

And okay, sure, she’d worn the rhinestone ankle boots. Why the fuck shouldn’t she? And why shouldn’t she wear the blue leather jacket and the designer jeans that probably cost more than these people could make in a single paycheck? If people wanted to be petty and jealous, that was their problem.

Still, she was relieved to reach the bar and see an aging butch with eyes that could glass, polishing a glass and looking indifferent rather than angry.

“Hey, Maudie,” Jessie cooed, plopping herself onto a barstool. “Long time, no see. Your lungs okay?”

One of Maud’s bushy gray eyebrows jumped. “What the hell kind of question is that?”

Jessie waved a vague hand meant to encompass the overall entity of One-Eyed Polly’s. “You finally made people stop smoking in here. You always said that would only happen over your dead body, so I figured you must have had a close call.”

Maud snorted. “We had a scare. Turned out to be nothing, but Toni and Joyce took it hard. You know I can’t say no when they gang up on me.”

“Good for them,” Jessie said fondly. She was immensely fond of both of Maud’s partners, who were much more warm and fuzzy than their butch and twice and scary when they wanted to be. They were hardly ever seen in One-Eyed Polly’s, but that didn’t mean their word wasn’t still the law.

“Enough about me,” Maud said, as if it hadn’t been more than a year since they had seen each other. “What brings you here? Was the birthday girl hoping for a free birthday beer?”

Jessie was so relieved she could have melted right off of her bar stool. Surely Maudie couldn’t be that angry at her if she had remembered that today was Jessie’s birthday.

“Honestly? I wasn’t gonna say anything if you didn’t. But since you offered, sure. I wouldn’t mind a bottle of your finest horse piss.”

Maud rolled her eyes, unamused into perpetuity, and produced the bottle with exactly zero flourishes or aplomb. Jessie made a production of it anyway, making a show of unscrewing the cap and making an elaborate toast to her bartender. The beer wasn’t good, exactly, but it did taste a little like something finally going right. Out of respect, and also a slightly desperate desire to be less sober, she drank it all before continuing the conversation.

“So, I have a favor.”

Maud’s face was unchanging. “Color me surprised.”

“Calm down, it’s nothing big. I was just wondering if I could hang up a few of these?”

Jessie offered the question up with baby-soft innocence, sliding her eye-catching blue posters across the table like she did this all the time. Judging by the look on Maud’s face, Jessie may as well have killed a squirrel and dropped that on the bar instead.

“I’m assuming your brother doesn’t know about these,” Maud said, voice low and tight.

Jessie tried to smile around gritted teeth. “Maybe he does. Does it matter? I’m a grownup. I can hire henchpeople if I want.”

“You might not get a lot of takers.”

“I’m sorry, did that also change while I was gone? Is this not where supervillains go recruiting anymore?”

“No, baby girl. I mean you might not get a lot of takers. You specifically.”

“Oh,” Jessie said, realization dawning. “Because everybody hates me, you mean. Well, it still can’t hurt to try, right? Pretty please?”

Maud sighed heavily. “I sure as shit can’t stop you, if that’s what you want to do. Just be careful, alright? Here, I’ll have the new girl hang ‘em up around the place. Tash?”

This last was directed towards the door that led to the kitchen (a cramped and delightful space, ruled over by a fry cook who loved his job and made such good fries that everyone was willing to overlook the unfortunate superpower that made him absolutely irresistible to rats), and a moment later was answered by a compact woman with a scowl that rivaled Maud’s. There were any number of things about this woman that Jessie might have noticed, hungry for detail and ready to pass judgement as she invariably was, but one thing stood out above all others:

They had met before, but she hadn’t been Tash then. She’d been Glimmer, the teleporting thief who infamously ran circles around every cop in Crown City. To say that Jessie was a fan of her work would be putting it extremely mildly; she’d been fully subscribed to Glimmer’s Sponzo account and paying cash money to watch live streams of her heists.

(How cocky was that!! Extremely sexy, tbh!!)

“Holy shit,” Jessie said, delighted. “Glimmer?”

“Oh, fuck me,” Glimmer said back, real horror on her face. “What the hell do you want?”

think I might have an exciting new way to finish a writing project (it's peer pressure)